Pop up drug testing labs at festivals in the UK… yeah or naw?

Did you ever think there would be a time where individuals would be encouraged to test the purity of their drugs before consuming them?

Well that time is now!

The Loop is a charity that will be pitching up at the Kendal Calling Festival in Cumbria this weekend. They will be running an on-site lab which allow festival goers to test their stash for lethal chemicals.

The scheme has come under fire…naturally, the director of the charity defends the decision to go forward by stating; We accept that some people will get drugs on site and some people will be planning to take them so what we’re doing is trying to address any potential health problems.

Also revealing that organisers of the festival have found crushed concrete and insecticide amongst other things in pills that they have tested, the charity claim; this is a focus on public health rather than on criminal justice.

Whilst some argue that to allow testing could be seen as normalising drugs, when taking in to account the sad reality that several festival goers have died as a result of consuming drugs at festivals over the past few years and understanding that festivals provide the perfect breeding ground for drug dealers, abusers and first time drug takers alike, perhaps these pop up labs could go some way to help preventing further deaths.